PANTSTER OR PLANNER

Today I'd like to share my take on a topic I've seen crop up from time to time on different blogs: pantster or planner?

The definition of pantsing is flying by the seat of your pants, i.e. without a plan, winging it. But, and here I’m sticking my head above the parapet - straight after which I'm flinging myself flat on the ground - and wondering why this phrase is used by writers? (Here writers means novelists, or aspiring novelists.)

What is called pantsing is writing without a formal plan– it’s not writing without any plan. Most pantsters have some notion of where they’re going to start, even if they haven’t planned the entire journey and don’t yet know the destination. They plan as they go, taking up and running with ideas as they arise. 

Writing without a plan is freewriting. And James Joyce’s Ullyses may be written in a stream of consciousness style, giving the impression of spontaneity, but Joyce gave every word he wrote intense consideration.  

Pantsters feel they have the choice to change direction, go where inspiration takes them - at any time.  Doesn’t every writer? Sometimes planning is a way in to the story, and just because you have a written plan, nothing, other than your own reluctance, prevents even the most meticulous of planners with charts, backstories, and detailed scene outlines changing direction. 

My argument is with the terminology. Pantsing implies a closer link to originality and creativity. Planning is a more staid, thoughtful, less inspired word. It is possible there isn’t a great deal of difference - the question is simply one of instant planning, or planning further ahead, and that it's not a choice between the scenic route or the motorway. But somehow I have the feeling that 'informal/instant planner' will never be taken up - it simply doesn’t have that same stylish ring as pantster. 

Writing Update

This week I’ve managed, at last, to put my WIP on the back burner, as it has simply refused to go to sleep, despite efforts to lull it into complaisance by freewriting and working on haikus. 

And with the aim of keeping my writing self as occupied as possible,  I’ve dug out my nano effort from 2012 - genre: soft sci-fi – adventure/romance. Reading a rough draft I wrote over a year ago is a strange experience. It’s like looking at a black and white photo from a long time ago; the memory of the event is fuzzy and details return but slowly. At present, I’m putting chapter one through the pro writing edit mill, with the idea of posting one chapter per month on Wattpad.

Also dusted off, edited, and with a large amount of trepidation, going up on Wattpad later this week are two shorter pieces of writing; one a crime caper short story, and the other a sci-fi flash fiction.

As you see, I’m busy exercising my writing muscle, and the rest of that stuff on the to do list while the WIP rests...well, it'll have to wait!

Today’s haiku 

COUPLE IN THE COFFEE SHOP

they’re tired, jaded,

dulled eyes, mouths turned down, sour smiles –

what murdered their love?

Useful links: 

I posted this the other day, so in case you didn't catch it - it's worth a read. http://theamericanscholar.org/ten-best-sentences/#.UzpmSVfaIkR 

And 40 book promoting sites for the indie author: 
http://bit.ly/12QtGyT 


I'm admitting failure in the 100 Happy Days photo challenge. After the laptop debacle last week, Twitter kept timing out when I uploaded my pics. I couldn’t always come back later to try again, so after almost 40 days of posting happy pics I’ve joined the 70% who drop out. But on the positive side, I did enjoy the challenge.

Join me on Twitter (and check out the happy pics I did post) at: teagankearney@modhaiku

Thanks for visiting my blog, and please do leave a comment.

To all story lovers out there, good reading, and to those of you who write, good writing.

MODERNISM

Developments in literary Modernism still resonate with writers today. So what is Modernism? 

The term Modernism describes a European cultural movement which influenced thinking in theology, sciences and the arts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As a result of advances (the industrial revolution, Darwin, Einstein, Planck, Freud, WW1) a cultural crisis occurred. Modernism challenged traditional attitudes proposing that only through the arts (painting, sculpture, poetry, drama, prose) could this cultural crisis be expressed and addressed.

Modernism in literature relates to both form and content.

Narrative time is one aspect viewed from a different perspective by Modernist writers. Frank Kermode discusses time using the Greek terms, chronos (an undirected continuous flow of events), and kairos (particular moments allocated import because of their relevance to the end). 

Modernist writers seldom perceived time as a progression of noteworthy steps leading to a momentous conclusion, but favoured kairos where single moments gain prominence because of distinctive insights gained in those moments.  Considered in this way, the traditional dramatic arc of a story recedes in importance, and the story becomes a series of scenes where content is less important than style, and the whole is seen as an object of beauty rather than an act of communication. 

Another notable feature of Modernist novels is the reduced prominence of the authorial voice.

Characters are presented in several ways: through their responses to the world; revealing how other characters see them; an internal monologue that includes thoughts about the past and the future. A further development of interior monologue is stream of consciousness - the most well known example being Ullysses by James Joyce. Interpretation of meaning is left  up to the reader. 

The question arises then – is Modernism relevant today? I think if you consider how admired and influential Hemingway, Joyce, Woolf, Elliot, Beckett and Nabokov are, to name a few, the answer is yes. Even if most writers still follow traditional structure, if we are to believe Harold Bloom, the American literary critic, writers discover their artistic impetus by reading earlier writers, and start by emulating them in order to cultivate a voice of their own. If this is the case, then Modernism has bequeathed today’s writers a rich legacy. 

Writing Update 

I have to be honest, I’m not writing a supernatural mash-up, well, I am, but it’s a romantic supernatural mash-up! I’m nearly half-way through with the speed editing of the first few chapters a distant memory - and I’m back to the slog; but as I’m re-writing/editing chapter by chapter, it’s a more tolerable slog. And most important, I’m still enjoying the process.

I constantly mull over the traditional vs self/indie publishing question, as well as wondering about PR/marketing options as I’ve one novel doing the rounds of agents/publishers. I've described the book as commercial women’s fiction (not chick lit or romcom) and wonder why we have to categorize books - it's a two stranded story about people experiencing loss, love and obsession!
And in the meantime, I realize the best decision is to keep writing. So I’m focussing on my particular twist on the eternal triangle - there are no new plots - only new ways to present them! 

Today’s Haiku  

he’s keen can’t take his

eyes off the swing of her hair –

he’ll buy what she sells  

Useful Links:

For more information about Moderism:

http://www.online-literature.com/periods/modernism.php

An informative post on scene breaks:

http://buff.ly/1em9iy4 

Join me on Twitter at: teagankearney@modhaiku 

Thank you for visiting my blog (I love when people leave comments), and to all story lovers out there, good reading, and to those of you who write, good writing.

‘PUNCTUATION, GRAMMAR AND OTHER STUFF??!!...’

Imagine for a minute you’re a junior editor working your way through a pile of manuscripts  - aka the slush pile. Your job is to read and make recommendations to your boss. What do you think happens when you read the first paragraph and find so many spellings, punctuation and grammar errors, that although you catch the writer’s drift, you realize you’re not trained as a code-breaker. The next manuscript is semi-colon perfect. Which one would you choose?

 

Punctuation, grammar and spelling are the mechanics, the nuts and bolts, of writing. They are aids we use when we want to communicate our ideas efficiently to others so our meaning is clear. Punctuation reflects the rhythms of speech, creates pauses, and is a basic feature of accurate writing. 

Proper presentation applies to self-publishing and ebooks. Readers don’t want books where the mistakes make reading harder than it should be. If you check out an ebook, you’re often able to read the first few pages. Too many basic errors distract from the story.

This is also the reason why there is an industry dedicated to correcting and standardizing the written word. And yes, there are writers, James Joyce and Cormac McCarthy for example, to name but two, who challenge the rules as they seek fresh and distinct methods to express particular experiences. But they write with knowledge of the rules, choosing deliberately to discard or change them. Jackson Pollack studied art before he began exploring new ways of expressing himself – he didn’t just decide to give up his day job and fling paint around. So when you know the rules, you can experiment.

There are details – US or UK spelling. Choose one and be consistent.  Use your word processor’s spelling and grammar check, and there are free online editing tools. Pro Writing Aid and AutoCrit are two, which have the added bonus feature of making you occasionally wish you’d never been born – let alone decide to write!

Find beta readers who are skilled in these areas, and ask them to be honest with you if your work isn’t up to par. They won’t correct your mistakes; that’s for you or an editor, if you can afford one - because they don’t come cheap. If you struggle with punctuation and grammar check a book out from your library, or buy a book (I’ve listed two below), and there are any number of online courses/tutorials you can find. 

You don’t have to become a grammarian but correct use of punctuation, grammar and spelling tells readers your work is of a professional standard. It won’t get your book sold – you need a great story to achieve that – but at least you stand a chance of someone making it past the first paragraph.

This Week’s Rant

The alphabet is a written code for the sounds we make when speaking, and when there is more than one way to spell a particular sound, it’s no wonder people have difficulty with spelling. 

Take the sound which is known as the long ‘a’ (as opposed to the short ‘a’ as in hat) and consider the following list:

eight where the ‘a’ sound is represented by the letters eigh

straight where the ‘a’ sound is represented by the letters aigh

tail where the ‘a’ sound is represented by the letters ai

play where the ‘a’ sound is represented by the letters ay

they where the ‘a’ sound is represented by the letters ey

ale where the ‘a’ sound is represented by a and e, separated by a consonant (pale, mate etc.,)

vein where the ‘a’ sound is represented by the letters ei

steak where the ‘a’ sound is represented by the letters ea

paper where the ‘a’ sound is represented by the letter a

(Just to up the stakes – or in case you thought the long ‘a’ was an exception - the er sound in paper can also be spelt using ir, ur, or, ear, ar, urr, our, re, or yr (as in zephyr).

Nine different ways to spell the sound we call the long ‘a’ and ten different ways to spell the ‘er’ sound! There are the rules, the exceptions, and the ones that don’t fall into either category. I think this is insane! For any child who is on the dyslexic spectrum, it makes learning to spell a form of torture. This is a plea for standardizing our spelling system!

Writing Update

Easing myself back into the final stages of editing ‘The Novel’ has been an interesting experience after the nano, and the break has definitely been beneficial. My writing seems calm and measured after the flying rush of ideas in November, and getting reacquainted with the characters is interesting.

This week I’ve continued reading aloud - something I hadn’t actually planned on doing. I am finding it worthwhile because I tend to read at a fast speed, so reading aloud – slowly - makes it harder to miss things. I’ve still a couple of chapters left for the second pro write edit, need to add a little more to a couple of minor characters and check out some place names, but it feels more like tidying up than editing. I’m aiming to finish by the end of December, so typing with my fingers crossed, I should manage that deadline.

My thoughts are turning to what I’ll work on next. I’ve two nano novels and don’t want to rack up a large number of rough drafts, so I’m thinking the decision is between last year’s nano, which I’ve been away from for a long time, and this year’s nano which is still buzzing in my head. I am planning another mainstream novel, but want to work on the nano novels while I plan that one. 

I do feel nervous coming to the end of what has been a fairly epic journey with this novel, and doubts are beginning to haunt me. Will anybody like it? I don’t feel it’s been a waste of time, but it’s been harder and taken longer than I anticipated. I guess I'll just have to wait and see! So a big thank you to all aspiring writers and bloggers out there, whose examples and struggles let me know I’m not the only one!

Today’s Haiku

DECEMBER

fallen crisp brown leaves

dance,  skitter, run to escape

the north wind’s fierce breath

Useful Links:

Just Google ‘online English grammar’ and a host of websites come up – or you can simply type in your particular question - use of commas etc.

Or buy one of the following books:

New Hart’s Rules. The Handbook of Style for Writers and Editors; published by the Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-861041-0

Write Right! A Desk Drawer Digest of Punctuation, Grammar and Style, by Jan Venolia: published by David St John Thomas Publisher. ISBN 0-946537-57-7

Join me on Twitter at: teagankearney@modhaiku

To all story lovers out there, good reading, and to those of you who write, good writing.